Shoe cleaning machine



March 5, 1935. E MEYER 1,993,220

sno cumulus ummm; Filed 06h51. 1932 Patentedl Mar. 5', 1.9135

UNITED STATES SHOE CLEANING MACHINE Emma Meyer, Zurich, Switzerland Application October 31,

1932, Serial N0. 640,488

In Switzerland November 2, 1931 2 Claims.

Shoe cleaning machines are known which are set up at railway stations and like places and which employ either reciprocating or rotary brushes. These brushes owing to the employment of rigid brush holding elements cannot properly adapt themselves to the shapes of the shoes, especially when the brushes are slightly worn.

This invention relates to a shoe cleaning machine which overcomes these objections in that the brush holding elements are yieldable within certain limits. According to the invention an endless belt forming the brush holding element is guided in a serpentine line over a group of pulleys and encloses at least two shoe cleaning points. The belt is reciprocated by pivotally mounted levers and cleaning elements are arranged on the belt between two parallel portions thereof. The mechanism is extremely simple and cheap in spite of the provision of two cleaning points owing to the employment of a single cleaning element actuating member.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing in which:-

Fig. 1 shows the cleaning element in top plan v1ew.

Fig. 2 shows the machine in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the covering angle with adjusting lever and motor wiring.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line IV-IV of Fig. 1.

An endless serpentine belt 1 made of leather or rubber is conducted over pulleys 2 and 3 so that it forms six parallel portions 1, 1".

Between every two pairs of parallel portions 1 and 1" one holding element 4 is arranged and rigidly fixed to the belt 1. The holding elements 4 consist of endless belts, the inner sides of which carry bristles 5 and form cleaning elements. The belt 1 is hingedly connected by means of a pin 6 to an operating lever 7 oscillatable around a pivot 8. A connecting rod 9 is articulated at one end on the middle of the operating lever 7 and at its other end eccentrically on a driving pulley 10. The driving pulley is driven by a electric motor 12 through the intermediary of a transmission element 11.

Supporting plates 13 for the shoes are arranged in the cleaning elements 4, 5 and hingedly connected by pins 14 to downwardly extending levers 16 oscillatable around pivots 15. Counter acting spiral springs 17, 13 are connected to the levers 16 and supporting plates 13 respectively and hold the same in the suspended position shown in Fig. 2. The foot rests 13 can be lowered as desired together with the shoe to be cleaned, thus determining the depth to which shoes enter the cleaning elements. By slightly shifting the shoes towards the front, rear and sides, the shoes are brought to bear all round against the reciprocating bristles 5 and are thus cleaned in a few seconds. A polishing disc 19 with bristles tapering in downward direction is arranged rotatable in a horizontal plane on the inner side of each of the cleaning elements at the height where the front portion of theinserted shoe is situated. The polishing discs 19 are driven from driving pulleys 22 mounted on axles 23 of the pulleys 3 through the intermediary of transmission elements 20 guided over grooved pulleys 21. The front upper portions of the shoe are cleaned by these polishing discs.

A casing 24 enclosing the shoe cleaning mechanism has a front extension 25 provided with two apertures 26 for introducing the shoes. Under these apertures a shiftable cover plate 27 is situated. The cover plate 27, which has apertures 27', can be shifted to the right or to the left by means of a hand lever mechanism 28 having a slot 32 engaging a pin 33 fixed in the plate 27. When the cover plate 27 is in its extreme position, one insertion aperture 26 is closed, whereas the other remains open. One of the apertures 26 or 27 is intended for accommodating black shoes and the other colored shoes. The engagement of the electric motor is effected by a switch 31, the belt with the cleaning elements 5, 4 being reciprocated so that the shoe inserted in the elements, as shown in dot-dash lines in Fig. 2, is thoroughly cleaned in a short time. When the lever mechanism is released and the corresponding contact 31 moved away from the switch 31, the circuit is interrupted and the electro motor brought to a standstill.

The machine may be constructed as a coinoperated automatic machine, by fitting a timey switch with coin feed in the current input wire. The machine can become operative only for a certain time after the insertion of a coin.

I claimz- 1. A shoe cleaning machine, comprising in combination an endless belt, groups of pulleys guiding said belt in a serpentine line to form parallel portions and enclose at least two cleaning points, levers connected to said belt and adapted to impart a reciprocating movement thereto, and cleaning elements consisting each of an endless belt with bristles on the inner side yieldably mounted one at each cleaning point between two parallel portions of said belt.

2. A shoe cleaning machine as specifled in claim 1 in which the belt forms six parallel portions and 5 carries cleaning elements yeldably xed one to its second and third parallel portions and the other to its fourth and fifth parallel portions,

and pulleys situated on the heel side at a distance apart equal to the Width of the cleaning elements whereas the pulleys on the toe side have a diameter corresponding to the Width of the cleaning elements.

EMMAv MEYER. 

